News and notes from AIA board meeting

October 18, 2021 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365


The 1, 2 and 3A Conferences will likely pass on the Open basketball tournament.

The 4, 5 and 6A schools are more open to an Open, though.

That’s what Arizona Interscholastic Association executive director David Hines indicated during Monday’s AIA monthly board meeting. As for the shot clock, the 1A is also leaning toward not adopting it because of logistics and cost.

The use of a shot clock will be left to each conference, Hines said. The AIA’s Basketball Advisory Committee sent out a survey to each school to gauge their interest in the shot clock and Open tournaments for the 2022-23 school year.

The deadline for principals and athletic directors to return the survey is Wednesday. During his report, Hines also said that the initial AIA member school conference placement for the next two years was recently released.

If schools want to appeal their placement, the deadline to do so is Tuesday. From Oct. 21-25, conference committee members will review conference appeals and set regions.

The AIA’s board will hear the final conference and region appeals on Nov. 15 during its next board meeting.

Hines also said he attended a recent meeting with conference leaders to discuss student athletes who are returning to their high schools after attending prep schools. Issues that are prep school related are emerging with student athletes now attending AIA member schools, but Hines said the AIA and conference leaders will work to address them.

Hines also thanked the AIA director of business development Brian Bolitho, AIA tournament coordinators and AIA assistant executive director Joe Paddock for generating a two-year start and end of the season schedule. That schedule also includes the dates of the AIA’s state tournament bracket shows.

Hines also thanked Washington High School’s business technology department for producing the championship and Open Division banners teams will receive in the fall finals.

Officials update

AIA state commissioner of officials Brian Gessner spoke about the growth and challenges his department is facing during the board meeting.

He has seen a 14 percent increase in new officials compared to last year. Credit the AIA’s Officials Incentive Program for helping attract more officials, Gessner said.

The program gives officials registration credit for every new official they bring in. Gessner’s department is also trying to recruit younger officials.

High school athletic directors are nominating students who are about to turn 18 to sign up. Those students will have their registration fees waived and get paired with a veteran official.

Gessner’s department is also meeting with universities to recruit college students. Radio promotions in metro and rural areas and flyers for small businesses are also helping in recruitment, Gessner said.

Retention is also a goal. The key is making sure officials return for a third year.

Once they do, they tend to continue officiating, Gessner said.

But Gessner also reported that officials aren’t returning because of abusive language directed at them.

“It’s the No. 1 reason they leave,” he said. “We need help.”

The mistreatment of officials is a big reason why women have practically left the vocation, Gessner added.

The commissioner is planning to meet with some athletic directors to examine how to help improve sportsmanship. COVID-19 and game scheduling have also taken a toll.

This year, more officials have been unable to work because of COVID compared to last year, Gessner said. Scheduling a large amount of basketball, baseball and soccer games on Tuesday also is an issue.

Membership comments

Jeannine Brandel, Flagstaff High’s athletic director and the 4A Conference rep on the executive board, commended Marcos de Niza’s football team for its actions after one of Flagstaff’s players got hurt during the game. After the game, a Marcos de Niza player went directly to check on the Flagstaff player.

“It was a class act,” Brandel said.

Agenda items passed

The following agenda items were passed:

The board voted unanimously not to use a committee to help seed the Open Division football tournament this season. Last year a committee was needed because of COVID-19 and cancellations. But there haven’t been as many cancellations this season compared to last year.

  • The Wrestling Sports Advisory Committee’s one-year recommendation to increase invitational tournament opportunities for girls wrestling from five to eight. This will help athletes on smaller teams compete in events with additional opportunities for participation in their weight class.
  • The Sept. 23 AIA board minutes, seven AIA lifetime passes, 2021-22 request for AIA sanction/intrastate and interstate activities master calendar, conference/region minutes for 2A North and 5A Conference minutes.
  • Language clarifying name, image and likeness rules for high school students. The AIA’s Legislative Council must still approve the emergency bylaw clarification.
  • The AIA’s monthly financial report.
  • Three varsity contests and 22 sub varsity program cancellations.
  • Seton Catholic’s request to waive its cancellation fee after it cancelled its football game versus Casa Grande due to a player contracting COVID-19.
  • Seven additional game requests by schools.

School violations

The following are violations schools self-reported and punishment they each received.

Warning for Fountain Hills football. An ineligible player participated in a game. The contest was forfeited.

Advisement for Tempe spiritline. Cheerleaders didn’t tie their hair in a manner to minimize injury risk.

Advisement for Sabino spiritline. A cheerleader was performing in a non-approved mask.

Advisement for Highland Prep boys soccer. Boys soccer coaches “repeatedly made dissenting comments” about the officials during the first half of a match. The head coach served a two game suspension and an assistant was dismissed.

Advisement for thirty-three coaches who failed to complete the annual workshop for coaches before the deadline.

An advisement is a word of caution.

A warning places a school in jeopardy of being placed on probation if another violation of any rule or regulation is committed. A school will not be eligible for the Overall Excellence Award during the warning period.